Atiku Mentions How Next INEC Chair Should Be Chosen, Rejects Post-Election Verdicts from Courts
- Atiku Abubakar urged reforms in appointing the INEC chairman, proposing a voting system instead of sole presidential appointment
- He warned Nigeria’s democracy is at risk if courts keep deciding electoral outcomes, stressing the mandatory electronic transmission of results
- Atiku lamented low voter turnout in 2023, called for stronger voter participation, and urged shifting the election petition burden of proof to INEC
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Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, has outlined how the next chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be chosen.
Specifically, he advised that the appointment of the INEC chairman should be decided through a voting system, and not solely by presidential appointment.
Source: Twitter
Furthermore, Atiku called for electoral and judicial reforms.
Atiku raises alarm about Nigeria's dwindling democracy
He warned that democracy in Nigeria is at risk if the judiciary continues to determine electoral outcomes, instead of voters, Punch reported.
Atiku's call was contained in a statement released on Thursday, August 28.
Atiku calls for more participation in voter registration
Source: UGC
The former vice president noted that while he welcomed the massive turnout of Nigerians for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, the same enthusiasm was not translating to high voter participation during elections.
He said that at the 2023 elections, only 24.9 million Nigerians, representing 26.72 per cent of the 93.47 million registered voters, cast their ballots.
“This is the lowest voter turnout since the return of democracy in 1999.”
Atiku: Why Nigeria is facing voter decline in electoral processes
The former PDP presidential candidate stressed that reversing the decline in voter confidence required a review of key provisions of the Electoral Act.
He cited the need to make the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and electronic transmission of results mandatory at all levels, without leaving room for manual processes.
Atiku insisted that the collation of results must strictly be based on figures uploaded on the INEC Results Viewing Portal rather than manual collation, Vanguard reported.
The former Vice President added that the burden of proof in election petitions should be shifted to INEC, which must show that it complied with the law, rather than placing the responsibility on petitioners.
Quoting legal expert Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, Atiku warned against leaving the legitimacy of leadership in the hands of judges.
Atiku’s ADC raises fresh alarm over INEC voter data
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warned that Nigeria’s 2027 general elections could be compromised if what it called ‘statistically implausible’ voter registration figures recently released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are not urgently addressed.
In a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the figures from Osun state and the South-West zone defied both historical patterns and demographic realities, raising doubts about the credibility of the electoral process.
According to the ADC recently adopted by Atiku Abubakar as a coalition aimed at unseating Tinubu in 2027, INEC’s report showed that Osun state recorded 393,269 pre-registrations in just one week.
Source: Legit.ng
